October 4, 2016

Dejuan Yourse Arrest

For the life of me, I can't figure what Yourse is going to be charged with. Even with the game rigged in cops' favor, I don't see a crime. Yourse is under arrest after 9:10 when the officer doesn't take kindly to Yourse invited his friends over. I can understand why the officer doesn't want a posse of friends showing up at the scene, but what's the crime? This was in Greensboro, NC.

I'd be curious to see how he'd be able to articulate reasonable suspicion at 8:13. I'm not saying he couldn't; it's a low standard. But I'd like to see how. That's when things go South. Before that moment, everybody is playing along and sticking to the script. Poking a guy rarely serves any tactical benefit. Alternative if you don't want him to leave? Hold your palm out. If you're going to make physical contact, let the suspect initiate it. Also then you're in a better position to push back or grab.

After that, it becomes your standard shit show of trying to get a guy's hands behind his back. First he is resisting arrest. But then even when he isn't, it would seem like that because he's so built that his arms don't physically move in a way that can be cuffed (without double cuffs). Anyway, resisting arrest is a charge, but first you actually to be arrested for a crime before you can be charged with resisting. The standard catch-alls -- loitering, failure to obey, disorderly -- none of those even seem to apply here.

Anyway, word on the street (ie: a journalist told me) is that the officers resigned. I'm not going to defend how the male officer handled this. He sure could have benefited from de-escalation or common sense. I mean, as long as he doesn't come back wanted, I'm pretty convinced he's not breaking into the house. Too bad she wasn't handling this with him running the warrant check. But why in the world would she resign? Unless the lied on her report or something.

Also, once again, you have cops serving as force multipliers, forced into a situation by a call from an ignorant and/or racist citizen. That happens a lot. But it may not be the case here.

My wife just told me that Yourse actually was wanted on some warrant, but the cops didn't know that yet when the arrested Yourse. According an attorney for the Greensboro Police Association:

Once Mr. Yourse was taken into custody, the officers were able to continue attempting to verify his identity. Upon doing so, it was learned that Mr. Yourse had two active warrants for his arrest, along with two additional orders for his arrest [?]. Additionally, they discovered that Mr. Yourse had been charged twice in the past for breaking into his mother's house, 2 Mistywood Ct.

I'm not sure why the male officer got so pissed off when Yourse exclaims through the phone that the police are harassing him. Clearly that is where the call went from deserving only a locker room recounting to being discussed on a random blog by random people. If a guy wants to talk on the phone and piss and moan, he's not actively trying to assault me or get away. If this were in a big apartment complex, I would buy the "recruiting reinforcements" more, but from what I saw in this video that wasn't the case here. The male officer acted individually without requesting his cover help; that tells me this was not a formulated plan, just a guy reaching his limit and lashing out, poorly. Yourse was definitely hinky, but that was a crappy way of dealing with the call.

Exactly, i think he was probably trying to get in the house with that shovel, but not with malicious intent. Id be willing to bet he went to prison for a robbery related charge, that would explain why he knows how to do that, however like i said he was probably locked out and was gonna use some of his old "skills" to get in. But to his dismay a neighbor who didnt recognize him called the police BECAUSE he was black (i bet if he was white and dressed in nice clothes it wouldnt have been such an issue) the cops show up and all of the sudden hes thinking up lies because he knows telling a cop "i tried to open the garage door,because im locked out" sounds suspect as fuck, but as a result the cop can hear his lies and he still seems suspect, more bad luck ensues and his mom wont pick up. Eventually he gets pissed off and scared cause he feels like hes gonna go to jail again for no reason, so he starts giving the cop attitude, calls his friends(or whoever) to clear the shit up, and he said something stupid . All in all i think the cop deserves to have his badge stripped because he had no reason to get physical and the whole "you were calling your homedogz to come shoot me" excuse is invalid and just a rationlization because the cops knows he fucked up. The cop had no reason to get physical with Dejuan Yourse. And thats how the justice system should recognize it.-Cal Bailey

" who didnt recognize him called the police BECAUSE he was black (i bet if he was white and dressed in nice clothes it wouldnt have been such an issue)" Not sure where this statement comes from, it is speculation at best. I have called the police for a near identical situation several years ago and yes, the perp was white and dressed normally. I called b/c I knew the family that lived there was black. Perhpas, instead of jumping to an extreme conclusions as to why someone called we should apply the situation to ourselves and what we would do. COnsidering this seems to be a nice community it is just as likely, if not more likely the person calling did not know the individual using the shovel even though they likely knew the family was black.

Seems to me, and most people I know, racism in the manner most think of it, is more of an imagination than reality today. Aside from the proverbial statement of 'racism still exist', (of course it does and always will, so does rape and murder but we don't harp on it as a cause of everything bad)many in society appear to want racism to be the cause of any event that is not positive. Making the statement someone called BECAUSE the guy is black does nothing more than keep alive a meme that simply does not exist in the manner implied with the statement.

Here's the issue... it DOES have a very grey area. No party was right-- the situation was just handled poorly. It's all a matter of perspective. Clearly the cops were wrong. They did handle that situation poorly and did break code, thus they should be held accountable for their disorderly conduct. HOWEVER... here's the grey area. Evidence does show that Yourse's mother did in fact have a restraining order against her son who had previously broken into the same house twice. Police had record of the roberies.This doesn't justify the actions by any means... just makes the situation a bit more complicated. Yourse DID actually have criminal history, active warrants for his arrest, and a restraining order from the woman who owned the house. assumptions can be made that sound like they support both sides of the story, but those are the facts. So as a cop, it is their duty to see to it that citizens are safe and laws are enforced. Imagine being the cops having the weight on their shoulders knowing that if they leave and something does go wrong(for example- they leave without question and the house is broken into by the son for a third time after police were notified), they're responsible for the victim's (his mothers) suffering and they didn't do their job. A cops job isn't easy... they live with a lot of guilt and pressure... but humans make mistakes. Not to say they shouldn't pay for it though... I believe in both punishment and forgiveness.

Is there any proof that Yourse's mother did in fact have a restraining order against her son? Or even that he had broken into her home before? I think that would be very relevant. But for the life of me, I have not been able to find proof.

Suppose that the cops were called because the neighbors were familiar with the mothers previous problems with her son,and restraining order against him? That is what would be considered a thoughtful, helpful individual.

Suppose that the cops were called because the neighbors were familiar with the mothers previous problems with her son,and restraining order against him? That is what would be considered a thoughtful, helpful individual.

Peter Moskos is an associate professor in the Department of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is on the faculty of the City University of New York's Doctoral Programs in Sociology and a Senior Fellow of the Yale Urban Ethnography Project.

Moskos graduated from Princeton (AB) and Harvard (PhD) and was a Baltimore City Police Officer. He has authored three books: Cop in the Hood, In Defense of Flogging, and Greek Americans.

Me in 2000

Me in 2016

Critical Acclaim for Cop in the Hood

Cops like the book, Cop in the Hood:

"Should be made mandatory reading for every recruit in the Balto. City Police Academy. ... I am so proud that you were a Baltimore Police Officer and a good one." —Colonel (ret.) Margaret Patton, Baltimore City Police Department

"I just finished reading the last footnote! Great stuff." —NYPD Lt. Detective (ret.) David Durk

"I have been a cop now for 23 years and your book really captured what it's like to be a street cop. . . . Great book, great insights." —Detective-Commander Joseph Petrocelli

"Moskos strips away hard to decipher cop-speak and sociological mumbo jumbo and presents something easily digestible by the average reader.... Moskos is a veteran of a war [on drugs] he disagrees with. But he has walked the walk, respects the brotherhood and, as far as I’m concerned, still bleeds blue." —Pepper Spray Me

"Truly excellent.... Mandatory reading for all fans of The Wire and recommended for everyone else." —Tyler Cowen

"Ethnographic chutzpah.... Perhaps the best sociological account on what it means to police a modern ghetto.... Tells a great story centered around notions of race, power and social control." —Andrew Papachristos, American Journal of Sociology

"[An] objective, incisive and intelligent account of police work. Moskos's graphic descriptions of the drug culture... are the most detailed and analytical to be found anywhere. —Arnold Ages, Jewish Post & Opinion

It could have profound consequences.... In Defense of Flogging forces the reader to confront issues surrounding incarceration that most Americans would prefer not to think about. —Mansfield Frazier, The Daily Beast

“Flogging” is intriguing, even in — or because of — its shocking premise. As a case against prisons, Mr. Moskos' is airtight. —Washington Times

Compelling… Although his outrageous idea may conjure up unsavory reminders of U.S. slavery, by the end of “In Defense of Flogging,” Moskos might just have you convinced. —Salon

One of the very few public-policy books I've encountered that goes past wringing its hands over a societal problem.... Moskos's sharp little volume has a potential audience far beyond the experts. —Rich Fisher, Public Radio Tusla

A very important work... provocative, timely, and well-argued. I agree with you completely that our criminal justice system is out of control.... On one hand, the problems seem intractable. On the other hand, we're doomed if we don't do something about it. —(Former) CIA Agent John Kiriakou

It was, in truth, a book that I could not put down. I read it in two sittings (my butt was hurting after the first!)... You did well. —Gary Alan Fine, John Evans Professor of Sociology, Northwestern University.